Closing Arguments Tomorrow in the Federal Trial of Roger Stone.... meanwhile:
Former top Trump official details campaign’s dealings on WikiLeaks, and suggests Trump was in the know
The deputy manager of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign pulled back the curtain Tuesday on the campaign’s keen interest in the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks and suggested that Trump himself had more knowledge of the matter than the president has previously claimed.
Testifying at the trial of Roger Stone — a Trump friend accused of lying about his own WikiLeaks-related dealings — Rick Gates said he overheard a phone call in which Stone seemed to make the president aware of a planned WikiLeaks release. Gates and other witnesses testified that Stone posited himself as something of an intermediary between WikiLeaks and the campaign, with access to insider information.
Gates said his boss, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, had told him that Trump would be kept updated on WikiLeaks’ plans to release Democratic campaign emails — which authorities concluded were hacked by Russia. The testimony from the former high-ranking campaign official indicates that Trump’s knowledge of WikiLeaks was more advanced than he has previously stated. In written responses last year to questions from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who was investigating Russian meddling in the campaign, Trump said he did not recall receiving any information about WikiLeaks disclosures in advance, being told that Stone “or anyone associated with my campaign” had discussions with WikiLeaks about future leaks, or ever discussing WikiLeaks with Stone.
Prosecutors and Stone’s defense rested their cases Tuesday afternoon, with closing arguments set for 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Gates said in court that he overheard at least one phone call between Trump and Stone in late July 2016 in which he said he thought they probably discussed WikiLeaks plans, saying that he reached that conclusion because after Trump hung up on the call, the then-candidate said that “more information would be coming.” Gates conceded that he did not hear what Stone said on the call, which he said occurred when he and Trump were being driven from Trump Tower to LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Asked whether anyone else was giving the campaign information about WikiLeaks, Gates testified on Tuesday that “the only person I’m aware of that had information at that time was Mr. Stone.”
At trial, prosecutors are seeking to prove that Stone lied and sought to obstruct justice, but in pursuing that case, testimony during the past week has revealed a raft of information about the campaign’s attention to WikiLeaks.
After Gates’s appearance, the government rested its case. Stone’s attorneys indicated that they do not plan to call witnesses, but would introduce various pieces of evidence, including audio of his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.
washingtonpost.com |
